1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to dental floss. More particularly the device and method herein disclosed relates to a device which may be used in an ongoing dental hygiene regime for flossing and is particularly suited to train an individual in the proper techniques of dental flossing while concurrently encouraging such flossing through the provision of a taste as well as visual reward system. This reward to the user is provided by a tasty dissolving substrate material communicating through apertures formed through the planar flossing substrate which are adapted for an interlocked engagement therethrough and calculated release therefrom during use.
By providing a substantially planar flossing substrate comprised of a material having a low coefficient of friction, the floss user in an ongoing regimen of flossing or the new user in training, is provided with a flossing material substantially easier to grip than conventional dental floss and which also glides through the narrow gaps between adjacent teeth with relative ease.
Proper use of such a planar floss is temporally encouraged by the immediate provision of the good taste of the releasable dissolving substrate material which provides ongoing positive reinforcement to the user during regular flossing or for the duration of the floss training exercise. Further, the dissolvable substrate can be used to freshen breath. Still further, additional encouragement can be provided by forming the dissolving substrate into the shape of cartoons or other whimsical characters that a child or young adult would find amusing during their temporary appearance in the mouth. Additionally, in the case where a specific manufacturer has a well known logo, the dissolving substrate could be formed in the shape of the logo and/or bearing the manufacturer's name. This embodiment would be especially useful to dentifrice manufacturers who wish to advertise their names on the flossing material itself and would allow temporary imparting of the name and/or logo of the manufacturer right onto the teeth of the user while the dissolving substrate is in the mouth.
2. Prior Art
The use of dental floss is recommended by virtually all dental health practitioners, for example dental professionals like dentists and dental hygienists. Dental flossing has been shown to be effective in removing interdental plaque according to the American Dental Association's Council on Scientific Affairs. Despite these facts, U.S. patent application 20020104548 (Bhupendra of Johnson & Johnson) indicates only about 12% of the United States population use floss regularly (that is, daily).
Modern dentistry has established that the use of dental floss and other interdental cleaners are an important part of dental hygiene and required daily to remove plaque and other particulate from between the teeth and under the gum line. These are the areas in the mouth which a toothbrush cannot reach and frequent initiation sites for tooth decay if they are not cleaned regularly. While most people should be taught when they are children about the proper manner and frequency of flossing, if older children or adults have not properly learned this hygienic art, it is never too late to start.
When flossing properly, a user is required to gently ease conventional thread-like floss between the teeth and gum line. In adjacent teeth that have positive contact, passing the round thread-like conventional floss therebetween can be a daunting task due to the frictional resistance of the adjacent tooth's side edges. Conventionally, about an 18 inch strand of floss is used in such regimens.
In use, holding both ends of a piece of floss for proper flossing dictates that the user form a “C” against the individual sides of two adjacent teeth and thereafter gently rub or slide the floss up and down the side edge of the tooth being cleaned. Holding the floss in this manner and moving it from under the gum line to the top of the tooth helps remove harmful plaque. As with any procedure for ongoing hygiene, it is important for the user to establish a regular pattern of flossing and remember to floss the backside of the last teeth.
Unfortunately, with children and many adults there is an inherent problem with the very thread-like nature of dental floss being hard to hold in their uncoordinated hands. Training can thus be very frustrating to the child and even cause eventual frustration to an adult attempting to learn the art of flossing. Additionally, in using conventional dental floss there is no positive reinforcement advanced to the child or young adult during training other than perhaps oral encouragement from the instructor. Without the instructor present, the user attempting self-instruction with dental floss will generally become discouraged over their inability to hold onto the thread-like ends, and the lack of any positive reinforcement for doing so. Further, as frequently occurs with experienced users of thread-like floss, the distal ends of the floss being used can have a tendency to painfully “strangle” the fingers around which they are wrapped. The result of these deterrents to flossing use and practice is frequently a failure in the instruction of new users to proper dental flossing and a resulting failure of their flossing hygiene program before it event starts. Even in ongoing users in a flossing regimen, such inconveniences can be a resulting cause of reduced flossing. Attempts to rectify some of these hindrances and design flaws have been advanced by some prior art.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,754,332 (Warren) teaches a preferably metal treatment member which incorporates a section of the member for the delivery of medication between the teeth which may be detached. The preferred embodiment employs an aperture which adjoins one edge of the member. Adhesive is preferably used to adhere an absorbent material about the edge of the aperture. In use the member containing the absorbent section is worked between the teeth to place the absorbent section, impregnated with fluoride or other medicine, in a position to transfer the medicine to the teeth. It can then impart the medicine to the teeth while the member is disposed therebetween. Or, as noted in Warren, the absorbent section, especially if placed on an edge, can be made to break the adhesive bond holding it to the member to leave it in place between the teeth. However, the absorbent material covering the apertures in Warren require an adhesive to maintain the absorbent material in place on the member. This use of an adhesive can limit the material used for the member due to adherence issues, and can make detachment complicated should the adhesive fail to release the absorbent material from its bond to one surface of the member.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,270,556 (McAllister) teaches the use of a prophylaxis strip (for example made of stainless steel) for professionally altering or cleaning interproximal surfaces and contact areas between teeth. The strip contains longitudinal perforations with each perforation preferably having a raised, peripheral scaling edge. However, McAllister lacks any teaching or suggestion of engaging a dissolvable film through the apertures in a mount which will encourage the user to continue flossing and a continued use of a metal strip with raised ridges over a long period of use could have adverse affects on the tooth enamel and irritate gums.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,776,358 (Lorch) teaches the benefits derived from an improved dental flossing material in the form of a tape preferably formed of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) folded longitudinally to form a pair of laminae defining a recess therebetween in which an abrasive or non-abrasive cleaning material is disposed. During the cleaning procedure, material flows from the free edges of the tape to become deposited upon the surfaces of the teeth and adjacent gingiva. However, while being an excellent teaching of the benefits of the use of a planar style floss, Lorch lacks any teaching or suggestion for the provision of a dissolvable film engaged through apertures in the tape to provide positive reinforcement and breath freshening to the user.
As such, there is an unmet need for device that may be employed for flossing by users in an ongoing regimen of flossing that is capable of excellent cleaning of the teeth while concurrently providing a taste or visual reward to the user. Such a flossing component, in the case of small children, young adults, and any dental patients being introduced to proper flossing technique, should provide for a flossing device that will be easy for users to grasp in their hands and not painful when wrapped tightly around fingers. Further, such a floss device should provide easy traverse through the narrow gaps between adjacent teeth, and concurrently be gentle on the gums during use thus encouraging practice as well as ongoing use. Such a flossing device should also be easily viewed during such use to provide the new user a means to gauge their physical actions during both use and practice giving a clear view of the movement of the floss material on tooth surfaces during regular or practice flossing sessions. Still further, such a floss device should avail itself to easy and repeated use in a flossing regimen or for self-instruction, while concurrently temporally coupling some sort of ongoing positive reinforcement to be enjoyed by the user during the flossing session to thereby encourage continuation of such flossing activity. Additionally, such a flossing device should provide the ability to form logos, cartoons, or indicia, in the dissolvable substrate to provide encouragement for use or advertising of the manufacturer. Finally, such a floss should be able to provide for breath freshening in addition to the provision of a pleasant taste for ongoing positive reinforcement.